Decoding TV

By Decoding TV

David Chen and Patrick Klepek discuss everything going on in the world of TV, with recaps and reviews of the most interesting shows on the air.

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· TV & Film

4.4

18121,812 ratings

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FAQs about Decoding TV:

How many episodes does Decoding TV have?

The podcast currently has 283 episodes available.

Decoding TV episodes:

June 03, 2025Ep. 70 - 'Mountainhead' Tries to Skewer Billionaire Tech Bros. Does It Succeed? (Plus: 'Rehearsal' and 'Last of Us' Follow-Ups)
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick discuss Succession creator Jesse Armstrong’s latest HBO original, Mountainhead. Does it do a good job of satirizing the billionaire tech class? Will Nic Pizzolatto ever write a True Detective episode again? And why do we feel sympathy for the new kids cast as the main Harry Potter characters? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
Predator: Killer of Killers (Hulu)
Shownotes:
03:40 - TV News
‘Harry Potter’ HBO Series Casts Harry, Ron and Hermione
‘Stranger Things’ Season 5 Gets Three-Part Release, Series Finale Set for New Year’s Eve
‘True Detective’ Creator Nic Pizzolatto Has a “Story” for Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to Reprise Cohle and Hart: They’re “Open to It”
28:00 - Mountainhead review
58:45 - The Rehearsal Season 2 Follow-Ups
1:11:00 - The Last of Us Season 2 Follow-Ups
Links:
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 29min
May 27, 2025Ep. 69 - 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Finale Was a Messy Disappointment (But 'The Rehearsal' Finale Wasn't!)
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick are joined by Christian Spicer to dive into the latest episodes of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal.
Why was The Last of Us season finale such a disappointment? What were some of the most memorable moments? What two narrative crimes did the episode commit? And why was The Rehearsal so exhilarating by comparison? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
Mountainhead (HBO)
Shownotes:
03:00 - The Last of Us Season 2
Ep 7 - Convergence
1:01:00 - The Rehearsal Season 2
Ep 6 - My Controls
Links:
Subscribe to Christian Spicer’s newsletter
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 26min
May 25, 2025Bonus Ep: Andor Season 2 Post-Mortem (with Patrick Willems)
In this bonus episode, David and Patrick discuss some follow-ups to their podcast series about Andor season 2.
Why did Tony Gilroy feel the need to delineate the true nature of Kleya and Luthen’s relationship? What about Mon Mothma’s relationship with her husband and daughter? And what do we think of the possibility of Jyn Erso and Leia cameos in Andor season 2? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more.
Links:
Subscribe to Patrick’s YouTube channel
Read Dan Gvozden’s recap of these episodes
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 10min
May 20, 2025Ep. 68 - 'The Last of Us' S2E06 Might Be Its Best Episode Ever
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick dive into the latest episodes of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal.
Is Max’s rebrand back to HBO Max one of the worst instances of corporate brand destruction ever? Are we excited about the new Alien: Earth series launching this summer? And why does David hate the marketing for James Gunn’s Superman so much? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
The Last of Us Season 2 episode 7 (HBO)
The Rehearsal Season 2 episode 6 (HBO)
Shownotes:
06:30 - TV News
HBO Max Lives! Max to Change Its Name Back After Two Years
‘Alien: Earth’ Sets August Release Date Plus 10 Images and Plot Details Revealed
‘Fallout’ Renewed for Season 3 Ahead of Season 2 Premiere in December
‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Shifts to 2026 Release
39:30 - The Last of Us Season 2
Ep 6 - The Price
1:14:00 - The Rehearsal Season 2
Ep 5 - Washington
Links:
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 34min
May 15, 2025Bonus Ep: Andor Season 2 Eps 10-12 (with Patrick Willems)
In this bonus episode of Decoding TV, David and Patrick Willems discuss the final three episodes of Andor Season 2:
Ep 10 - Make It Stop
Ep 11 - Who Else Knows?
Ep 12 - Jedha, Kyber, Erso
What did we think of how this show connected to the events of Rogue One? Were we happy with how the show wrapped up the stories of characters like Bix and Luthen? What are our closing thought on the series as a whole? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more.
You can also watch our convo on YouTube:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 34min
May 13, 2025Ep. 67 - In 'The Last of Us' S2E05, Fear Leads to Anger and Anger Leads to Hate
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick dive into the latest episodes of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal.
It feels like there’s not gonna be enough time to tell a complete story in this season of The Last of Us. Where does episode 5 leave our characters? Is there any possibility the Harry Potter PR tour is going to turn around? Are we excited about a revamp of the Netflix homepage? And did we really need to launch a Max app in the first place? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
The Last of Us Season 2 episode 6 (HBO)
The Rehearsal Season 2 episode 5 (HBO)
Shownotes:
01:30 - TV News
‘Shogun’ Season 2 to Begin Production in January 2026
Netflix Plans Major Overhaul of Homepage Design, OpenAI-Powered Search and TikTok-Style Vertical Feeds
Max Purges Over 200 Seasons of Television As It Pivots Back to the HBO Brand
J.K. Rowling Says ‘I Wouldn’t’ Fire Paapa Essiedu From HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ for Supporting Trans Rights: ‘I Don’t Have the Power’ and ‘Wouldn’t Exercise It If I Did’
HBO Exec Promises ‘Harry Potter’ Series ‘Not Secretly Being Infused’ With J.K. Rowling’s Anti-Trans Rhetoric
38:00 - The Last of Us Season 2
Ep 5 - Feel Her Love
1:11:00 - The Rehearsal Season 2
Ep 4 - Kissme
Links:
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 30min
May 08, 2025Bonus Ep: Andor Season 2 Eps 7-9 (with Patrick Willems)
In this bonus episode of Decoding TV, David and Patrick Willems discuss the next three episodes of Andor Season 2:
Ep 7 - Messenger
Ep 8 - Who Are You?
Ep 9 - Welcome to the Rebellion?
This batch probably has some of the most intense action in Star Wars ever put to film. We also got some actual Star Wars references to things like the Force and other iconography. What did we think of Syril Karn’s arc this season? How did we feel about Mon Mothma’s big moment? Have stormtroopers and droids ever looked more terrifying? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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1h 23min
May 06, 2025Ep. 66 - Why 'The Rehearsal' Had Us Screaming At Our TV (Plus: 'The Last of Us' Hits Seattle)
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick dive into the latest episodes of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal.
What do we think of The Last of Us’s depiction of Seattle? How did we feel about how this week’s episode moved Ellie and Dina’s relationship along? And was Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal this week an act of insanity of genius? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
The Last of Us Season 2 episode 5 (HBO)
The Rehearsal Season 2 episode 4 (HBO)
Shownotes:
01:00 - The Last of Us Season 2
Ep 4 - Day One
46:30 - The Rehearsal Season 2
Ep 3 - Pilot’s Code
Links:
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 17min
April 30, 2025Bonus Ep: Andor Season 2 Eps 4-6 (with Patrick Willems)
In this bonus episode of Decoding TV, David and Patrick Willems discuss the next three episodes of Andor Season 2:
Ep 4 - Ever Been to Ghorman?
Ep 5 - I Have Friends Everywhere
Ep 6 - What a Festive Evening
We’ll be doing a podcast episode for each of the four Andor drops.
This batch introduces us to the world of Ghorman. What parallels is the show trying to draw between the Ghormans and our world? Have we ever seen Luthen more light-hearted than in these episodes? And how do we feel about the state of the Karn/Meero #karntent at this point? Listen to hear us discuss all these questions and more.
Links:
Subscribe to Patrick’s YouTube channel
Read Dan Gvozden’s recap of these episodes
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 18min
April 29, 2025Ep. 65 - 'The Last of Us' S2E03 Is the Calm Before the Storm
In this episode of the Decoding TV podcast, David and Patrick discuss what’s happening in the world of television, then dive into the latest episodes of The Last of Us and The Rehearsal.
Is Max a streaming service that is impossible to cancel? Why is Netflix so opposed to theatrical filmgoing? And what responsibility do actors have in accepting roles for shows with controversial figures involved? Listen to us discuss all these questions and more!
Homework for next week:
The Last of Us Season 2 episode 4 (HBO)
The Rehearsal Season 2 episode 3 (HBO)
Shownotes:
01:30 - TV News
Max prepares to crack down on password sharing
Bill Hader to Co-Write, Potentially Star in Jonestown Series in Development at HBO
60 Minutes explains the resignation of Bill Owens
Ted Sarandos says stuff
John Lithgow Didn’t Expect Backlash
35:30 - The Last of Us Season 2
Ep 3 - The Path
1:08:00 - The Rehearsal Season 2
Ep 2 - Star Potential
Links:
Listen to Patrick’s videogame podcast, Remap Radio
Subscribe to Patrick’s newsletter, Crossplay
Subscribe to this podcast on YouTube
Follow this podcast on Instagram
Follow this podcast on Tiktok
Subscribe to David’s free newsletter, Decoding Everything
Follow David on Instagram
Follow David on Tiktok

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
...more
1h 27min

FAQs about Decoding TV:

How many episodes does Decoding TV have?

The podcast currently has 283 episodes available.

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